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For someone said to be posing as a deadly Canadian military sniper and allegedly lying about serving with Task Force 3-09 in Afghanistan as an elite member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, Mike ter Kuile is the worst possible adversary.

Not only is ter Kuile a sergeant with the Calgary Police Service, he happens to be a decorated Captain and former Princess Pat, who took a leave of absence as a cop to serve overseas with the Canadian military — in Afghanistan, in Task Force 3-09.

“I deployed in 2009-2010 to Afghanistan as part of Task Force 3-09, which is the very task force he claimed to be on,” said ter Kuile.

It’s a stroke of bad luck that has resulted in charges of perjury and obstruction for a Chestermere man now accused of lying about his modest military service in front of a judge.

Keenan Anthony Feeney, who goes to trial on the charges in July, did serve in the Canadian army with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, but ter Kuile says that’s where the truth stops and the bull begins.

Ter Kuile says Feeney, who was in court on charges stemming from a domestic incident, allegedly told the judge he was still serving in the military, and was currently working as a security consultant overseas.

Feeney was trying to convince the judge to return two sniper rifles and a handgun RCMP had seized from his home following the domestic disturbance, and he allegedly told the court the weapons were required for work.

“He (allegedly) represented himself in court to still be in the military as well as being an overseas security operator, and he said he needed these weapons for his job, so he basically got his guns back,” said ter Kuile.

But that’s when the Calgary traffic sergeant was tipped to potential perjury, by a fellow military member who suspected Feeney wasn’t telling the truth — and because of his unique past, ter Kuile was given orders to investigate.

“Perjury is a very unusual charge in Canada, but to do this in (allegedly) representing himself to be a highly-trained military member, when in fact he’s not, is serious bad timing on his part,” said ter Kuile.

“Because of military background, they told me to run with it.”

Ter Kuile still serves part-time with the Calgary Highlanders as Headquarters Company Commander, and it didn’t take much detective work to check Feeney’s military past.

“I (allege) through evidence I collected he wasn’t in the military any longer, he wasn’t employed overseas,” said ter Kuile.

As for his claims to be an elite sniper? “Not even close — he learned how to drive a truck, and that’s about it,” said ter Kuile.

The guns were seized for a second time and an emergency protection order granted to the accuser in the domestic case, which was settled with assault charges being dropped and Feeney being convicted on a lesser charge of breach of condition.

The police sergeant says he found a long history of tall tales and false bravado connected to Feeney, who declined to offer comment when reached by the Sun.

“He’d show up at a social function and say to people ‘I was a sniper in Afghanistan and I could kill you from 3,000 metres away, and you’d never even know I was there and you’d be pink mist,’ and crap like this,” said ter Kuile.

While lying is not against the law, ter Kuile said Feeney, a well-built amateur MMA fighter, was using his story to frighten people — and it worked.

“What really bothered me was interviewing witnesses who were literally scared out of their minds over this guy,” he said.

Clearly, a veteran accused of exaggerating his military service is a far different case than that of Franck Gervais, the Quebec civilian charged after allegedly impersonating a soldier in Ottawa on Remembrance Day,

Still the Calgary case disturbs Ian White, spokesman for Stolen Valour Canada, who says reports of veterans embellishing their military past is all too common.

“You run into dozens of these guys, and they’re all snipers and rangers and special forces who took on the whole Taliban single-handedly. You never hear them bragging about being a supply technician or a truck driver,” said White.

“Unfortunately lying is not a crime — at least until you do it in court, while under oath.”